What's you hunting sleeping bag?

[Litehiker]

i just ordered an Eddie Bauer Karakoram 0 sleeping bag for next year's hunt.

It has 850 fill Down Tek treated down for water resistance.
It is wide enough so I can wear my down or synthetic insulated jacket and pants for colder temps. And it's longer for storage of boot liners and water bottles at the foot.

Got a screamin' 55% off deal at $302. Nevada sales tax included.

So what are you using for freezing temps? (And what extra clothes do you wear to extend your bag's temp. range?)

 

[jmden]

10F rated Western Mountaineering Versalite. 2 lbs.

 

[Tim in Washington]

I have a W M Badger 15 deg. bag and an older W M 0 deg. bag.I think the 0 deg. bag pre dates the named bags.
I can't say enough good things about Western Mountaineering
Tim

 

[jmden]

I have a W M Badger 15 deg. bag and an older W M 0 deg. bag.I think the 0 deg. bag pre dates the named bags.
I can't say enough good things about Western Mountaineering
Tim

That's true. Last year I managed to brush my nice, fairly new WM bag up against a hot Kifaru stove in my TipiTent and, poof, all these perfect little down plummules are floating, sadly, around the tent. Although I'd heard differing stories on WM customer service, I found a number for them, called them, sent in the bag, and got it back, expertly repaired in pretty quick order for a very reasonable price. Note to self...sleeping bags and most other thing don't do well in contact with hot stoves...

 

[Tim in Washington]

I can laugh about it now but about 9 years ago the same thing happened to me the first time I used my tipi with a stove. W M also fixed me up than.I was not laughing at the time though.
Than last year I did the same thing with a down coat.I'm a slow learner.
Tim

 

[Timber338]

I have two bags, both are Mountain Hardware UltraLamina (synthetic fill). One in a 15 deg rating, and the other a 0 deg rating. I use the 15 deg during archery hunting, and the 0 deg for rifle season.

Interesting to hear that you guys layer up inside of the bag to increase the temp rating. I never wear more than just a long sleeve tshirt and boxers. To me that is warmer than layering up.

 

[moombaskier]

I use a Western Mountaineering Mega Lite that is rated for 30' that I have comfortably slept in at 6'F with an Exped UL7 mattress wearing only my Sitka Traverse base layers. I was sleeping alone in my Copper Spur UL3 and the temp inside the tent never got below 27'F without a heater. I was sleeping in my backyard testing my gear....my wife still thinks I'm nuts!

 

[jmden]

My experience in down bags, at least, is that it's best to wear very little.

 

[jmden]

I I was sleeping in my backyard testing my gear....my wife still thinks I'm nuts!

I think that most of our wives think most of us are nuts!

 

[Litehiker]

Re: What's your hunting sleeping bag?

"...my wife still thinks I'm nuts."

Hee, hee I set my Tarptent Moment DW up in the backyard yesterday to photograph the modifications I made. (Others at Backpacking Light and Trailspace want to see them.)

So my wife says, "You going to sleep out there tonight?" I said, "No." And she replied, "I'm surprised. Getting wiser?"

They just don't get it that we want no surprises when we're in the boondocks so we check gear out at home.

 

[moombaskier]

Re: What's your hunting sleeping bag?

"...my wife still thinks I'm nuts."

Hee, hee I set my Tarptent Moment DW up in the backyard yesterday to photograph the modifications I made. (Others at Backpacking Light and Trailspace want to see them.)

So my wife says, "You going to sleep out there tonight?" I said, "No." And she replied, "I'm surprised. Getting wiser?"

They just don't get it that we want no surprises when we're in the boondocks so we check gear out at home.

Exactly!!! Why wait to see what might/might not work with your gear. Wearing my rain gear in the shower blows her mind too!

 

[bretterath]

I run a kelty ignite dridown 0deg bag but froze my balls off in it in alaska this year in 18 deg weather

 

[Litehiker]

Bret,

That Kelty bag is nice but they use their own temp rating instead of the scientific European rating scale. Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends are the only US companies I know of that accurately rate the minimum temperature of their bags.

I just bought an Eddie Bauer Karakoram 0 bag with Down Tek treated down (for moisture resistance). It's a decent bag but the inner neck collar is at my tits instead ov my neck and it lacks several other features to make it useful so the bag goes back to EB this week.

I'll likely get a Sierra Designs or Kelty bag (but ONLY if they make then with goose down) because they also use a Durable Water Resistance (DWR) treatment on the down. That DWR down treatment is worth its weight in gold.

I need a bag long enough to store my felt or foam boot liners and water at the bottom
and wide enough that I can wear my down jacket and pants inside for more warmth.

JMDEN, Wearing extra clothes inside your sleeping bag is standard mountaineers' practice. It means less weight to carry (clothes you use during the day too, instead of a warmer, heavier bag) and works very well if the bag is not too tight. I've slept in 15 F. weather in Colorado's Indian Peaks region in a 30 F. Western Mountaineering Megalite bag with a full insulated suit and was cozy warm.

The old saw about being warmer by sleeping "naked" is absolutely not true. The only thing that does is heat up your bag faster - then you get cold if the bag is not warm enough.

 

[jmden]

I've got a couple of decades of mountaineering and rock climbing experience on two continents and a fair amount of backcountry hunting experience and it's always been my experience that, if the down bag is rated appropriately for the conditions your in, sleeping with little on keeps u drier and more comfortable overall. This with -30F rated custom made Feathered Friends bag to 30F rated down bags of high quality. To each his own. You can lighten your overall pack weight doing what u r talking about, something very important for climbing.

Also, I'm not sold on the DWR goose down yet. Keep it dry and it shouldn't be a problem, but I saw what appeared to be Patagonia crashing and burning with their recent attempt at using it in their new 'Belay' parka, I think it was called. Reviews were horrible in terms of consistent long term lofting and the pictures of such (lights used to shine thru the jackets so u could see how the down was distributed) clearly bore that out. That nearly $700 parka is no longer on the market from what I've seen. Granted there is different technologies for that out there and those will likely improve, but I'm not sold on it yet. Just me. Regular down still works great and many agree if you start digging on reviews.